BITS Pilani

Pilani Campus

Course No. : CHEM F343

Course Title: Inorganic Chemistry III

20/01/2023
 Reflection: Reflectivity
• What is reflectivity?
 The reflectivity R gives the fraction of the incident beam that is reflected
 Related to the index of refraction

• Reflectivity of a material present in air:

 R =(n-1/n+1)2

• If the material is in some other medium with an index of refraction of ni,

then:
 R = (n-ni/n + ni)2

 Assumptions: (i) single surface; (ii) incidence is perpendicular to the surface

•Factors: (i) Angle of incidence; (ii) Index of refraction; (iii) wavelength of

photons
• Reflectivity: For metals, ~0.95; For Glass, ~0.05
 Control of Reflectivity & Absorption
• Surfaces of different metals and glasses
 can be made good reflectivity or poor reflectivity
 Coating of the appropriate material is required
 Anti-reflective (AR ) coatings are used for glasses, in automobile rear view
mirrors, on windows, or for the glass of picture frames so that you see
through the glass without seeing your own reflection

Absorption
• The intensity of the beam passing through the material is given by,
I = I0exp(-αx)
where x is the path through which the photons move
α is the linear absorption coefficient of the photons,
I0 is the intensity of the beam after reflection at the front surface
and I is the intensity of the beam when it reaches the back surface.
The equation is known as Bouguer’s law
• Mechanism
 Rayleigh scattering: the photon interacts with the es orbiting an atom and is
deflected without any change in photon energy (elastic scattering);
 Different Absorption Processes
• Tyndal effect:
 Scattering from particles much larger than the wavelength of light
 Why clouds look white?
 The water droplets that make up the cloud are much larger than the
molecules of the air and the scattering from them is almost independent of
wavelength in the visible range
• Compton scattering:
 the process of scattering of an electromagnetic wave from a free electron.
 was the variation of the wavelength of the scattered photon with the angle
of scattering. This could only be explained treating the electromagnetic wave
as a particle.
 The main equation of the Compton scattering is Δλ=λc(1 - cosθ),
(Δλ is the wavelength shift, λc is the Compton wavelength, and θ is the angle
of deviation)

• Photoelectric effect:
 Photoelectric effect occurs when the energy of the photons is consumed
by breaking the bond between the es and the nucleus
 Different Absorption Processes (contd)
• Photoelectric effect (contd):
 As the energy of the photon increases (or the wavelength decrease), less
absorption occurs until the photon has energy equal to that of the binding
energy
 At this energy, the absorption coefficient increases significantly.
 The energy or wavelength at which it occurs is called the absorption edge.
 The abrupt change in the absorption coefficient corresponds to the energy
required to remove an e from the K shell of the atom

I = I0exp(-αi + αs)x-in
equation αi = the intrinsic
absorption coefficient
(previously explained) and
αs = the scattering
coefficient
 Mathematical Forms for Different Processes

Step:1, If the incident intensity is I0, then the loss due to reflection at the front
face of the material is RI0.
The incident beam that actually enters the material
= I0 – RI0 = (1 – R)I0
So, I reflected at front surface = RI0; I after reflection = (1 – R)I0
 Transmission & Mathematical Forms (contd)
Step 2: A portion of the beam that enters the material is lost by absorption.
The intensity of the beam after passing through a material having a thickness
x is: I after absorption = (1 –R)I0exp(-αx)

Step 3: Before the partially absorbed beam exists the material, reflection
occurs at the back surface. The fraction of the beam that reaches the back
surface and is reflected is:
Ireflected at back surface = R(1 –R)I0exp(-αx)

Consequently, the fraction of the beam that is completely transmitted through

the material is: Itransmitted = Iafter absorption – Ireflected back
= (1-R)I0exp(-αx) – R(1-R)I0exp(-αx)
It = I0(1-R)2exp(-αx)
 Problem
A material has a reflectivity of 0.15 and an absorption coefficient (α) of
100cm-1. Design a shield that will permit only 1% of the incident radiation
from being transmitted through the material. Calculate the amount of
radiation lost at each step.

The amount of radiation is lost in each step:

Reflection at the front face:

Intensity after reflection:
Intensity after absorption:
Intensity due to absorption:
Reflection at the back face:
 Solution
• The fraction of the incident intensity that will be transmitted is:
• It/I0 = (1 – R)2exp(-αx)
• 0.01 = (1 – 0.15)2exp(-100x)
• 0.01/(0.85)2 = 0.01384 = exp(-100x)
• Ln(0.01384) = -4.28 = -100x
• X = 0.0428cm
• The material should have a thickness of 0.0428 cm in order to transmit 1%
of the incident radiation
 Solution (contd)
The amount of radiation is lost in each step:

Reflection at the front face: Ir = RI0 =0.15I0

Intensity after reflection: I =I0 – 0.15I0 =0.85I0

Intensity after absorption: Ia = (1 – R)I0exp[(-100)(0.0428)] = 0.0118I0

Intensity due to absorption: 0.85I0 – 0.0118I0 = 0.838I0

Reflection at the back face: Ir = R(1 –R)I0exp(-αx)

= (0.15)(1-0.15)I0exp[-(100)(0.0428)] = 0.0018I0